Inevitable Adventure
by WikedFae
Summary: At the end of the end and the beginning of the beginning, there is always an ‘in between’. A brief view of the start of a journey.


**Inevitable Adventure**

by WikedFae

Summary: At the end of the end and the beginning of the beginning, there is always an 'in between'. A brief view of the start of a journey.

And for music lovers: this was inspired by the Order of the Phoenix track "Possession" by N. Hooper.

Disclaimer: I swear…the dream felt so real. Sadly, reality came back to bite me upon waking up. I don't own any of this. Just my shameless wish for a happy ending.

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The forest floor crackled beneath his feet as he cautiously stepped forward, pushing branches aside, casting dancing light beams. A fluttering caught his attention and as he looked he saw the delicate creature. A fairy had flitted down to his shoulder, her iridescent wings collecting dew and reflecting strangely against his obsidian cloak.

"Why would a little imp choose my shoulder to land upon? To what harm do you intend to foolishly lead me? Walk me off a cliff?" he growled.

"Why no such harm as I could see. Look beyond the veil of mists—she is there. Waiting. It was she who sent me to inform you. Never harm you, sir!" came the piping reply. With a flick of her wings, she'd alighted into a sunbeam and disappeared.

As he gazed into the valley below, a gasp slipped from between his lips. The air around him froze and filled his lungs with a burning desire, searing his mouth, slashing at his cheeks forcing him to bite down, inadvertently drowning his voice. She was perched atop an island that was strewn with boulders and surrounded by rushing river waters. Her flaming hair acting like a torch, guiding and seducing him as it rippled in the breeze. Her pale face was turned up towards the sun and its rays sprinkled down upon her illuminating each freckle on her delicate nose.

And then he saw her eyes; those eyes which exploded like fireworks of jade, emerald, malachite and viridian. Such power and understanding emanated from those depths and he found himself hanging onto branches to keep from falling down into their chasms. These eyes were not like Albus's—these could not pierce with X-ray quality. These would hurl a glance like a javelin slicing through the body and unearthing exactly what was hidden. This was precisely what he felt as her glance moved up the embankment and focused on him.

The leaves slipped out from beneath him and he was left scrambling to regain his balance as he clumsily slipped down the steep bank. Splashing headlong in the churning currents below, he righted himself and began clamoring desperately to make it to the island in into her arms. It seemed she had other plans, though.

"Severus." Her voice was melodic, but terrifying as it engulfed him from beyond the water. "There is an ending once you reach these rocks, however, it may not be the one you long for."

He halted, waist deep in the freezing brook. "But it will be an end!" After such a life of sacrifice, surely any ending would be welcomed.

"Then are you worthy and willing to fight for the ending you deserve?" It was such a simple question, simply spoken, by a woman who was anything but simple.

"…Yes," he answered warily. "If it means a better end."

She turned away from him and began picking her way over rocks towards the edge of the island. With each step she took the currents seemed to pull more strongly and the waters seemed to rise.

"Shall we start with the most recent events, Severus?" she called from a field hundreds of yards away from the coast. "Shall I teach you, as you taught my son?" Her tone was even and controlled, however he felt as though an intense anger bubbled beneath the surface. "Was he not also a part of me, left living in the world? And to think of how you treated him. Always protecting your wounded heart."

He gasped as he felt his cheek slice open and blood gush from the wound. The water around him rose higher still as he continued to struggle forward.

She stood on a small knoll overlooking the stretch of coastline he was struggling to reach. "Did you never stop to think that I would watch over my son every minute of his life? How he fought his way through each battle with strength and courage, only to have those attributes some found enviable, shoved in his face by the one man who was perhaps the most important link to what existed before his birth!"

His lips were turning blue from cold and his teeth began chattering yet he forced himself to keep going. She was ripping his heart out and tearing it to shreds with each word but he had to reach her.

Now she was standing on the rocks and he could only catch snippets of what she was saying over the slapping of waves against his chest. "…He was my life…you turned over that prophecy…had you forgotten about me, about the life I was leading…"

"NO!" he screamed. "I had not forgotten you!!! I never did!" Water dripped from his mouth as he sputtered. A fierce undercurrent ripped at his feet, dragging him under. His feet found rocks, slick with algae, and managed to push himself up, breaking the surface of the water. Frantically, his eyes raked the coast for her, finding her crouched on a low boulder.

"I never wanted to hurt you! I know he was your son…it was for that reason, alone, that I protected him. He needed to be taught how to survive!" He was desperate for her to understand.

"But why not teach him like any other pupil? Why not give him the same respect you once gave me? Why, Severus?" Her eyes were misted with tears, her voice laced with pity.

"Because he wasn't MINE! He was his! He was the life I never had! He was the reminder of my loss and my betrayal for which I've mourned since before the day you died at Voldemort's hands!" He was beginning to lose consciousness and his limbs were heavy with exhaustion, limp from the cold. And then she did what he'd never expected. She reached out her hand.

"Then swim!" Two simple words that seemed to mean the world to him, uttered to the winds that were sweeping through the valley. He reached out, one stroke at a time, frantically kicking to reach the shore and to grab hold of her hands…to reach his end. He was five feet from her when he felt the water close around him like tar, suffocating his movements, holding him suspended in the freezing liquid. She dropped her hand, retracting it close to her body.

"Why did you call me Mudblood, Severus?" There it was: the final question. She needed to only whisper it; he'd known this would be the end and for once Occlumency would not save him. He met her eyes once more, gasping for breath, and surrendered his mind, body, and soul.

Images flashed through his mind. The Sorting Hat sending her away from him, the meeting with Lucius and Mucliber under the greenish glow of the Slytherin common room; her hair bouncing luxuriously as she preceded him through the doors of the Potions classroom while Avery muttered in his ear how horrible it was that Mudbloods still attended Hogwarts. The evenings in the park sitting on the swings with her, seeing her reunite with family and friends after the year at school while he begrudgingly stalked towards his mother; wishing his angel would look at him with more than friendly love in her eyes; finding the idea of power appealing, hoping she would be impressed once he achieved a high position among the ranks of the Death Eaters. How blind he had been, to think someone with such radiance would ever find the darkness appealing. How cowardly he had been, not letting her close enough to shine her light into the darkest corners of his soul. How greedy he had been, trying to claim this flame as his own denying the world its rightful glimpse. And how foolishly he'd been burned, spurned by the realization her affections were swaying towards another. How despicably horrendous—he saw his mouth forming that dreadful word, clinching all hope of what was now never to be. He saw the tears brimming in her eyes that night as she sat in the window of her room—he was watching from afar with mirroring tears. He was too weak to change…even with the prospect of her love, he'd never seen that he could have been great in her eyes. He could have meant the world to her without such power and it would have been reminiscent of their childhood times.

"I was too weak…I was too weak…" he shuddered as he voiced the truth. "I was too weak to fight for you." He lost his balance and keeled into the depths, but not before hearing her declaration.

"You've fought for me this far…keep fighting for me, Sev."

A flame burst alive in his heart and with a gut wrenching scream he forced every limb to move, propelling him upwards, breaching the surface as he grasped her re-extended hand. As he dug his hands into the sand he felt tears mingling with the river water and he collapsed onto the beach feeling utterly exhausted.

He closed his eyes, but felt when she knelt down beside him and whispered in his ear, "You saved him, though. I believe James and I counted four times, although subtle differences in opinion may make the tally closer to five. You kept your promises and became the honorable man I always knew you'd be. You still loved me, after all those years, never having spoken of your plight to anyone. And there is one thing that has remained constant these sixteen years since I moved on in existence: I still love you…and you have my forgiveness."

A small sigh, almost like a whimper escaped his lips.

"Are you ready to meet your end, Severus?" she asked.

He gulped and nodded, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, afraid to see the changes surely taking place around him.

"Then open your eyes, Sev."

A breeze fluttered over him, briefly caressing his cheeks, drying the tears, leaving his skin cool and tingling. He felt sunlight warming his body through a lighter material than he was used to and for a moment he wondered if Hell was tricking him before plunging him into eternal damnation. But then he heard her giggle and felt that if Satan really had a clue about how to truly torture him, he wouldn't make her sound so happy. Taking the chance Severus squinted his eyes open just the tiniest fraction, almost blinded by the summer sun blasting from above.

Her radiant eyes shone like beacons, welcoming him into this new existence; her hands held out a bouquet made entirely of wild flowers that had grown in the fields by their playground in their younger days. With one fluid movement she stood, motioning for him to explore his new surroundings. As he glanced around a rushing emotion overwhelmed him: gratitude. Indeed, he knew this place—he knew it like the back of his hand. It was the forest grove where he and Lily had shared their biggest dreams, hopes, aspirations, and desires…at least, all of them except the one in his court. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was that he was here with her in the one place only they knew. Although there was still sadness in him, he felt he could not cry, for this place seemed to bring peace to his heart and when he glanced at those viridian eyes it was a new home to be engulfed by. And without warning he felt a tugging at the corners of his mouth…a genuine smile broke out reviving every feature on the face so long haunted with sorrow. With two swift steps he was by her side, his white linen robes billowing out over the grass behind him.

"Oh, Sev…is this the ending you were hoping for?" She smiled knowingly and her eyes adopted the mischievous glint he'd grown to love as a child.

"It's more than I ever imagined, Lily."

"Thank you for fighting for me, in the end." Her statement was sincere and her expression ignited a song in his heart as he realized he could recognize that emotion. She was proud of him. This pride was something he'd wished to attain every day when she was alive, and a pang resonated in his chest as he realized he'd most likely received this look before but had been too engrossed in maniacal plans of grandeur, he'd never realized.

"Then I should thank you for being a pure soul. Thank you for saving me, in the end…" He whispered this and bent down to place a kiss on the blushing apple of her cheek.

"Then shall we call it even? Friends again?" She extended her hand which he gratefully accepted. Fingers gently entwined and eyes met in a blossoming of understanding.

"Come, Severus…it's time we reunited you with the others."

Whomever there was to meet, whether it be Potter, Black, Dumbledore, or many others who'd gone before him, Severus did not care. He had his ending in his grasp, loosely clasped between his fingers, so without a word he serenely followed her out of the glade into their newest adventure.

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A/N: There is an idea for a sequel to this; if time is merciful in letting me gather my thoughts, I may start putting pen to paper again (even if it has been over 2 years since I wrote this.)


End file.
